Marin Alsop Leads Emanuel Ax, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Brahms' First Piano Concerto, June 2-5

By -

Emanuel Ax Performs Brahms’ First Piano Concerto, June 2-5

Marin Alsop leads regional premiere of BSO co-commission by Argentine-American composer Osvaldo Golijov

Piano legend Emanuel Ax returns to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO), under the direction of BSO Music Director Marin Alsop, in a performance of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore, Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 5 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Maestra Alsop will lead the BSO in a delightful tour of the orchestra in Britten’s A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and will also feature Sidereus, a BSO co-commission by Argentine-American composer Osvaldo Golijov.

Emanuel Ax’s legendary music-making has thrilled audiences for more than 30 years. Among the world’s most sought-after piano virtuosos, the New York Times describes his style as, “a shifting balance of poetry, earthiness and analytical clarity.” He joins the BSO to perform Brahms’ dramatic First Piano Concerto. Brahms performed the work’s challenging solo at its premiere in 1859 in Hanover. Brahms’ listeners were not prepared for the work’s assaulting principal theme and unconventional tonality, after their steady diet of Liszt and Mendelssohn’s charming vehicles of virtuosity.

Opening the concert is Sidereus, an overture for small orchestra by Argentine-American composer Osvaldo Golijov. This piece was commissioned by more than 35 orchestras that comprise the Henry Fogel Commission Consortium. Of Russian-Jewish descent, Golijov’s family escaped the Czarist pograms by immigrating to Argentina when the composer was young. This unique background has helped Golijov find a style that blends Latin rhythms with Yiddish expression, rooted in firm classical training. Sidereus was inspired by Galileo Galilei’s 1610 treatise Sidereus Nuncius, which contains the trail-blazing astronomer’s observations about the galaxy.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Music in Opera

By -
There are numerous books on the topic, and every composer, librettist, director, singer and audience member has their opinion as to what role the music should play in an opera. In a play without music, the words ought to support the meaning behind a character's actions. However, in the case of action movies, often times the action is what tells the story and there aren't words, just images to forward the plot. We might hear music to accompany action, build tension, but the action tells the story. Musicals tend to speak until the emotion of the moment just "has" to break out in song - unless it's something like "Mama Mia" where the dialog is the rails we travel on between songs; the songs themselves, written before the concept of the musical, are the focus of the production, while the story is secondary. Operas are a different beast. The music provides emotion to the words spoken, but it also plays the role of ambience when there is only action. In ...
Read more

Episode 210b: Joyeuse le départ

By -
Image
Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts  |  Android  |  Google Play  |  Stitcher  |  TuneIn  |  RSS Provost Cunningham has Transmigrated, but to where! What is Dr Sage going to do with his body? And how can she bring home her friends, Abigail and Erasmus, without also bring home Cunningham? What are they going to say when they find the “skeleton” she’s hiding in her closet? Cast: Eddie Louise Clark  as Dr Sage Chip Clark  as Professor Savant Justin Bremer  as the Narrator Emily Riley Piatt  as Abigail Entwhistle, Calypso & Dean Stewart Written by  Eddie Louise Theme music by  Unwoman Sound Design by  Chip Michael
Read more

Teaching Composition – What are we trying to achieve

By -
In the process of learning composition I have spent time with a number of instructors who have encouraged me to write twelve-tone, pitch-class, electro-acoustic and other forms of experimental techniques. No matter how much I might understand and appreciate the work of other composers in the genres, these are not forms of music I resonate with. They are simply not forms of music I listen to and I struggle with the idea of writing them. However, in a Master Class by Libby Larsen she made the comment, “Learn them all, because all forms of music have something to offer.” This I very much agree. There are elements of each of the above mentioned forms (and others) that I do resonate with. Berg’s Violin Concerto is a beautiful twelve-tone work, although it is possible to look at numerous sections of the music with a “tonal” analysis. Another composer friend, Gary Bachlund commented that using these techniques can narrow the choices for how to compose a piece of work. If you look at ...
Read more